I think we need to put our arms around the Irish News, the Belfast-based daily that has just lost a libel case over a restaurant review. As The Guardian's Maev Kennedy noted, restaurant critics dropped their forks in shock at the news. A jury in Belfast upheld a claim by the Italian restaurant, Goodfellas, that the Irish News's review was "defamatory, damaging and hurtful". Then it awarded the owner £25,000 in damages.

Not surprisingly, the newspaper is to appeal against the judgment, arguing that it could set a worrying precedent which raises "profound questions" involving freedom of the press. "If this stands it could be the end of serious restaurant reviews," says Matthew Norman, a newspaper restaurant critic for some 15 years.

The Irish News review, published in 2000, was written by Caroline Workman, who trained in London restaurants and is a former editor of the Bridgestone restaurant guide. She was critical of the quality of the food, drink, staff and the smoky atmosphere at Goodfellas, giving it a rating of one out of a possible five. Owner Ciarnan Convery, who opened the restaurant in 1991, claimed the article was a "hatchet job". And the jury, of four men and three women, took just 90 minutes to agree with him.

If we ever needed proof that our libel laws need attention then this case surely illustrates the point. It is a disgraceful decision and, almost certainly, will be overturned at appeal. It is a clear denial of freedom of expression. But it proves something else, does it not? Juries do not like the press, even a paper as good as the successful, sensible and serious Irish News. I am not calling for the end of jury trials in libel cases, but I am simply drawing attention to yet another example of the lack of public sympathy for the press, a press that exists to represent the people.